Description
Book SynopsisA balanced and readable account of the 1791 battle between St. Clair's US forces and an Indian coalition in the Ohio valley, one of the most important and under-recognized events of its time.
Trade ReviewIn The Victory With No Name, Colin Calloway recounts the largely forgotten campaign that ensued in crisp, sometimes gripping prose. His account of the intertribal diplomacy and generalship that led the Indians to victory is revelatory." -Wall Street Journal
Colin Calloway takes a largely forgotten episode, the rout of green American soldiers by Ohio Indians in 1791, and makes of it something larger and more telling. We see a grappling of two loose collections of peoples * a native coalition struggling to hold onto land and lives, and a hungry young republic in search of its identity. The story of a bloody three hours becomes one of tragedy and ascendance, full of revelations about the nation's emergence.Elliott West, author of The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story *
The author ably explains the winner's side of [the 1791 Battle of the Wabash, a largely forgotten clash] * a herculean task since the Native Americans had no written records.Kirkus *
A new spin on the old adage about the winners writing history... Calloway presents keen observations on the link between business interests and the government's land policy that, underpinned by its racial assumptions, made Gen. Arthur St. Clair's 1791 defeat a complex event. * Publishers Weekly *
Colin Calloway has written a brilliant and haunting book, one that encourages us to confront entangled ironies fundamental to America's past and present. This battle 'with no name' transformed the course of American nationhood, as a devastating defeat compelled the new nation to yoke its future to conquest of Indians in the West. For Indians, a resounding victory presaged losses that were to come. In one final irony Calloway leaves us with the descendants of these Indians, people who would find an enduring place * even to this dayin the service of American arms.Patrick Griffin, University of Notre Dame *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Confederations: America in 1790 2. Building a Nation on Indian Land 3. The U.S. Invades Ohio 4. The Indian Resistance Movement 5. Battle with No Name 6. Recriminations and Reversal Epilogues Bibliography
